Bang Bang
by RavenclaWriteRules
Summary: Everyone should just fall in love with Makoto and all their problems will be solved, pretty much. Whether she needs to beat up creeps or bake you a Pavlova cake, you know she will support you. Mainly friendly fluff with some miracle romance, I'll also add some fun facts. Enjoy! ART DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. PLEASE FOLLOW MISS LUMPALINDA ILLUSTRATIONS (PICTURE NOT MADE FOR STORY).
1. Mars Power, Makeup!

"Ah, so you do like makeup, Mako-chan?" Usagi asked brightly, appearing right next to her in the mirror.

"Gah!" Makoto yelped, backing away and nearly dropping her compact into the sink. "U-Usagi!"

"Ehhh, I didn't know you had one! Are you just trying it out, or have you used it before?" Usagi got close and peered at Mako's face. "You look very cute!"

"Oh...um, thank you," Mako blushed, rubbing the back of her neck with embarrassment. "I just, uh...thought it might be fun...I know it doesn't suit me, but-"

"Nonsense! I mean it, you look really cute right now! Anyone who isn't careful enough with their heart is extra sure to fall in love with you!"

"Usagi, stop making a ruckus, we're in the bathroom!" Rei snappd, popping out of the stall directly behind them and further startling Makoto. "Ah! Makoto, are you wearing lipgloss?" she peered in, too. Makoto's face turned redder than the strawberries she had been washing yesterday to put in a fruit tart. Now it was just the worst.

"Eh...eh...it's just a little powder and some lipgloss, nothing special," Makoto laughed nervously. "Um, did I mess up on something?"

Rei crossed her arms and lifted an eyebrow. "Hm, well, maybe the undertones should match more, instead of a coral blush you should be using-"

"No! No! You look great!" Usagi insisted. "It's fine like this, as long as you are happy!"

A third stall door swung open. "Huh? Why is everyone crowding around the sink? Oh..." Ami blinked twice and Makoto felt an urge to run out of the bathroom, faster than the speed of light. "Makoto! You look so pretty! Did you do something to your face?"

"Eh...heh...eheheh," Makoto laughed awkwardly. "Please excuse me, everyone," she bowed quickly, then dashed out of the bathroom. Maybe an incognito life in the countryside as Myuu Azama wouldn't be so bad. She could grow her own vegetables and fruits to sustain herself, and fight any evil rodents or weeds that threatened to harm her garden-

"Hey! Mako-chan, wait up wait up!" Usagi screeched and dashed after her at an alarming speed.

"I've never seen her run like that towards an enemy," Rei huffed grumpily.

"Yes, I totally have! And you're just being mean, Rei!" Usagi pouted, sticking out her tongue.

"Oh, please don't go without me! Wait up!" Ami gasped and ran after them to the best of her ability.

 _I am never going to touch a lipstick ever again_ , Makoto gasped, quickly wiping off the gloss on her sleeve as she ran and narrowly avoiding a telephone pole. Usagi wasn't as lucky and rammed into it headfirst, screaming loudly then beginning to cry. At the sound of her wails, Makoto froze and turned around, then sighed and ran back.

"Did you hurt yourself, Usagi? Can you show me where the boo-boo is?" Makoto asked gently, bending down.

Usagi, whose cheeks were both completely red and wet, looked up and her and grinned. Then, before Makoto could pull away, she grabbed onto her arm and yanked hard. With a yelp, Makoto stumbled forward and landed into Usagi's waiting arms. Rei and Ami, who had been yelling worriedly after them, finally caught up and screeched to a stop.

"You didn't wipe it away, did you? Oh well! Now, we can give you a makeover too!"

"Uh...you don't seriously think that would...look good on me?" Makoto asked, beginning to realize her fate was nearer than she thought.

Usagi made her bottom lip quiver and gazed at her with puppy dog eyes. "Oh pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease canwecanwecanwe-"

"Oh, all right, I guess it won't hurt," Makoto sighed. "Don't say I didn't warn you, though!"

"Yaaaaay!" Usagi squealed, crushing her in a bear hug. Makoto gulped a breath of air and looked over her shoulder at Rei and Ami, who just shrugged and smiled as if sending the message "I guess we're accomplices now."

* * *

"Now, stand still please! Otherwise, we'll have to tie you up," Usagi announced importantly, holding an eyelash curler.

"I-I've seen tutorials, but I don't know what you're going to do with that," Makoto stammered. "Are you...going to pinch me with that or something?"

"What? No, this is just so your eyelashes can curl up and look pretty!" Usagi insisted. "Now, just hold still, and I...Hey!" She protested as Rei snatched the device from her hands. Makoto breathed a sigh of relief.

"You're so clumsy, you're definitely going to hurt someone with that!" Rei chided. With that said, she turned back to Makoto and sat down, moving closer to her face. "I'll handle it instead."

"What? No! Who made you leader?" Usagi growled, trying to reach for the curler. Makoto flinched and watched the two of them bicker, wondering if she should make a getaway.

"I'm the leader! I should be able to do it!"

"No, you're not ready to do this! Besides, you'll just mess it up!"

"I've never messed up before! You can't prove it!"

"Oh, really? Well, what about that time you let that villain go and we had to get rid of it by ourselves-"

"Well I really needed to go to the bathroom, okay, it wasn't my fault!"

"Fine, but what about the other time when you-"

"Well there was a street vendor selling baked sweet potatoes for only five yen each! What was I supposed to do, let them go to waste?"

"Oh my gosh, you _pig!_ "

"How rude-!"

Makoto licked her finger and wiped off the rest of the eyeliner off, carefully crawling on all fours towards the door. Just then, she felt a gentle tug at her ankle and turned around.

"Ah ah ahh," Ami teasingly waved her finger. "You're not reneging on your promise, are you, Makoto-chan?"

"Oh!" Makoto's cheeks flushed and she quickly scrambled around, trying to look more dignified. "No, of course not," she replied, trying not to look nervous.

Ami giggled. "Of course you wouldn't," she smiled brightly. Makoto felt a wave of relief flood her heart as she realized she was just joking. Ami was always so refreshing to be around. "But I must admit," she leaned in and whispered, putting up her hand to shield her mouth as if that would prevent Rei and Usagi from hearing, "that strange device looks rather scary. How about we escape while they are still fighting?"

"Oh, that sounds wonderful," Makoto breathed a sigh of relief and Ami giggled again. "Let's go, now!"

With that, the two of them stood up and ran to the door.

"So what are you going to do if you end up becoming chubbier, hm?"

"Well, then there will be more of me to love and I will become even more beautiful and in love with myself, so there!" Usagi stuck out her tongue.

"Ugh, no wonder you have dango buns on your head!" Rei groaned. "Hey-where did they go?" she wheeled around, catching Makoto and Ami in the act of trying to turn the doorknob quietly. Understanding that they could not escape peacefully, Makoto and Ami quickly opened the door and dashed out. "Hey! Get back here, you can't run away from us!" Rei yelled, forgetting what they had been doing but nonetheless wanting to finish up business.

Giggling madly, Makoto and Ami ran out of the room and into the kitchen, startling Ikuko Tsukino. Usagi, yelling and waving around loudly, bumped immediately into her mom and was forced to apologize. Rei, who bumped into Usagi, looked horrified and apologized quickly before starting another argument.

"Well, I guess that's the end of makeup for me," Makoto yawned, crouching underneath the kitchen table with Ami.

"Oh, really?" Ami asked, sounded almost disappointed. "I thought you were enjoying it."

"Huh? Oh, no, it's not that! I-I mean, I do guess I kind of do...j-just a bit..."

"A bit?" Ami smiled wistfully.

"Okay, I guess I do keep on coming back to it even though I'm not very good," Makoto admitted. "I just don't really like other people doing my makeup since I have to keep still for so long. Or BB cream- it always makes my skin so greasy! And bleh, Usagi got lipstick eeeverywhere!" Quickly, she wiped her mouth, when something else occurred to her. "I bet she filled in my eyebrows unevenly, too !"

Ami giggled. "Well, they are a _bit_ lopsided.."

"Gah! I knew it!" Makoto scrambled around, trying to get at them. Just then, Rei kicked under the table and, feeling something underneath, lifted up the tablecloth.

"Hey! So here is where you two losers have been hiding, huh?" Rei growled.

"Yup, sorry, can you ever forgive us?" Makoto laughed, putting her hands together.

"You don't look sorry at all!" Rei frowned.

"Ah, it's a joke, Rei-chan," Ami smiled gently. "Besides, you were still fighting with Usagi, weren't you?"

"We weren't fighting!" Usagi stuck her head down too, knocking into Rei, who exclaimed in pain.

"Oh my goodness! How many times must you bump into things today? You're such a klutz!" Rei growled, rubbing her head.

"Hey, I didn't do it on purpose-" Usagi whined.

"Well, here they go again," Makoto sighed. Ami giggled again.

* * *

"Ahhh~ that was a nice nap," Minako stood up and stretched, pushing aside the sundae she had half-finished before falling asleep. With that, she looked around the Crown karaoke room and blinked.

"Um...where did everyone go?"

* * *

 **Poor Mina! I'm sure she'll find them eventually. She always does.**

 **I'm not a very bright person, but the Sailor Senshi are at least, so may they bring some sunshine and positivism to you. I related a lot to Makoto especially because of her issues with boys and feeling like she didn't really fit into femininity (though I also felt sometimes like I couldn't fit into masculinity either, despite kind of wanting to). Also, no matter what continuity she is in, she always slips an F-bomb in somewhere. My kind of girl.**

 **I'm not very familiar with Sailor Moon, unfortunately, a lot of my information on the 90s and remake anime and musicals come from blogs and video reviews. I swear I tried to watch both of them! I did. I tried to get as far as the 90s dub would allow me, and I watched one episode of Sailor Moon Crystal but got weirded out by how Usagi's personality didn't seem to match (calm, austere, mildly expressive schoolgirl vs CRAZY EMOTIONAL HIGH USAGI WE ALL KNOW). I did read through the manga (not that I remember EVERY villain and plotline by heart!) but if there's one continuity I will love to death, it is the live action PGSM.**

 **So the gang that I have here isn't really any one continuity. Some elements and characterizations carry over from a particular continuity and others are original. I might even tweak around and try different possibilities. You know, it's easy to ship the Senshi with each other because they all have such great relationships together.**

 **But for the love and justice, Jadeite, I am not putting you with Rei. Rei, who hates men with such passion that no water can put out. It doesn't matter how adorable you were at the end of PGSM, staying with Queen Beryl like a good ship going down with the captain. Rei will NEVER look at you that way- unless, of course, you mean "with burning hatred and disgust."**

 **Okay, now that's out, here are some fun facts that everyone probably already knows.**

 **1\. Chieko Ochi, who played Naru in the live action PGSM, actually played Sailor Mercury in the Sailor Moon Musicals. This is an interesting piece of information because in PGSM, she and Sailor Mercury have a plot conflict about wanting to be Usagi's best friend and not wanting to share the same role. Also, she released the song Sakura Kiss, which became a theme song for Ouran High School Host Club.**

 **2\. The Martian Manhunter is a character from Batman that is capable of shapeshifting. In one instance, it takes the form of a dark-haired woman and is introduced as "Hino Rei" to Bruce Wayne, who replies that such a fake name is a dead giveaway. Clearly, Batman watches Sailor Moon and got his fashion sense from Tuxedo Mask. You know, since they're both orphans...although I don't know if Batman composes sonnets about love and justice? Maybe?**

 **3\. Out of all the senshi, Rei is the hot one. Literally. If I have a hard time deciding whether I want to screenshot fanart, I usually check out how hot Rei looks. I have an art folder of pictures of Rei dissing men called "misandrei".**

 **4\. I have a huge crush on Keiko Kitagawa and Kanon Nanaki who play Rei in PGSM and the Sailor Moon Musicals (La Reconquista, Petite Étrangere, Nouveau Voyage). And, I guess, Karen Kobayashi (Sailor Moon Musical: Amour Eternal) too. They're all gorgeous. Don't even get me started onto my crush on every iteration of Sailor Jupiter- my personal favorite is Myuu Azama from PGSM, but by the time she decided to pro-wrestle her clone in Petite Étrangere, it was obvious that she'd come out a winner.**


	2. Underneath the Sakura

"Hey! Don't fall asleep, we're not done yet!" Rei chided Usagi.

"But I don't wanna stay awake~!" Usagi whined.

Rei scoffed, "You think we're here because we like doing this and have nothing better to do?"

"Yes!" Usagi replied, sticking out her tongue.

"Why, you-!"

"Everyone, please, let's calm down," Ami nervously attempted to mediate.

"Hey, hey! Stop fighting, you two!" Makoto groaned, separating the two girls who had started to yank on each other's long hair. "Come on, we're nearly done with the problem, let's just solve it and then we can take a nice break!"

"But I don't want to solve it," Usagi groaned, "I just wanna go to beeeeed-"

"Ah! Me too!" Minako, who had been giving off a dead fish look, suddenly sat upright. "I wanna go sleep! Let's go to bed right now, Usagi!"

"Alright! That's two votes already, sounds good!" Usagi proclaimed, standing up and marching over to her twin bed and diving onto it. Minako also walked over and flopped on top of her, since there wasn't much room on it anyways. The two of them began to make snoring sounds immediately.

"Why, those two-!" Rei growled.

"Now, now," Makoto tried to calm her down, "let's all just take a break, then, and we can come back to the problem later. Right, Ami?"

Ami looked up from her set of math questions. "But...but...oh, okay," she replied quietly, putting the mathbook down.

"Right. Would you like another cup of tea, Rei?" Makoto asked brightly.

Rei opened her mouth but then shut it and replied yes, she would. Humming peacefully, Makoto reached over and poured her another one then handed it to her, patting her on the back as she drank it. Her face turning red, Rei grumbled "You don't have to do that, Makoto, I'm just fine-"

"That's alright," Makoto smiled. "It's what I enjoy doing."

Rei sighed. "If it makes you happy, I suppose it's fine. No wonder you're always so cheerful."

"Yup! That's me," Makoto grinned cheesily, slapping Rei on the back a little too powerfully and nearly making her choke. "Oh! Sorry, are you alright?"

"Just fine," Rei coughed a little. "Ami, are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Ami replied in a small voice, but she kept her hands clenched on her lap and stared at the mathbook on the table hungrily.

"Would you like a cup of tea, Ami?" Makoto asked gently.

"I guess," Ami replied, not looking away from the mathbook. Makoto smiled and quickly poured her one. Ami took it with both hands and spent a few seconds blowing onto it, looking wistfully at its surface while waiting for it to cool down.

"Mamo...Mamo-chan," Usagi sighed and gripped her pillow. She then stretched out, yawning, then went back to making loud snoring sounds while Minako rolled over and mumbled "Nnnurghhh...but, Mars...mmmmmmrf...we're in the middle of a fight..." Rei's face turned red and Makoto, peering over at the pile of bodies, walked over to the closet and started looking around. Finally she found some pink, bunny-embroidered quilts and walked over to the twin bed. Kneeling down besides the two girls, she quietly covered them up and poked Minako on the forehead, wondering what she could possibly be dreaming about.

"Mmmph...Mama," Usagi blabbered, drooling onto her pillow.

"Shh," Makoto mumbled, patting her head softly. "It's okay. You've worked very hard, I'm very proud of you. Goood girl," she muttered.

"Ah, no, I don't usually do this...krrrrghgh...but, if it's you, I'm okay with trying it," Minako mumbled, hugging Usagi tightly from behind and chomping off a section of her hair.

Makoto sighed and shook her head. Incurable Minako. She gently separated Usagi's hair from her mouth, then kissed her on the forehead and went back to sitting with Rei and Ami.

"You know, Mako-chan, you really do look very motherly when you take care of them like that," Ami spoke suddenly. Makoto blinked, surprised.

"Oh...really? You think so?"

"Yes," Ami replied, smiling gently. "My mother used to do the same with me, you know. She'd pat me on the back whenever I felt scared of the dark or that I would fail my exams, and she would tell me about all the things I could do as a doctor when I was grown up, and every night she'd read me a new story."

"Oh...what kind of stories?"

"Hm, stuff like Alice in Wonderland and Frankenstein. Oh, and Candy Candy. My mother didn't care for manga that much, so she just read a few chapters and left it, but I ended up reading the whole volume and buying the rest of the series on my own," Ami replied, blushing slightly.

Makoto swallowed, trying to remember what stories her mother might have read to her. She looked over at Rei, who was sitting very still and tensely. A pang of guilt hit her. "Rei...did you have any special memories with your mother?"

Rei was silent for a second, and another pang hit Makoto. _Oh dear. I shouldn't have said that-she's surely going to cry_ , she grimaced and opened her mouth to apologize immediately. But Rei opened her mouth first and replied "Yes...when I was little, I remember she used to read me the story of Princess Kaguya when I was younger."

"Princess Kaguya, huh?" Makoto mumbled.

Ami blinked. "Oh, I used to love Princess Kaguya so much when I was younger, I even wanted to go to the moon...but, then I read about black holes and worried about getting sucked into a dark space with no air, and so I decided I'd rather stay here for now."

Makoto looked down at her empty tea cup, wondering if there might be some strange symbol formed by some remaining tea leaves at the bottom. But it was just a cup of tea.

"I suppose...I did have to end up becoming like my mother," she stared down, wishing there was something for her to figure out. "But I don't think I look very motherly at all. I'm too stocky to be like a mother."

"I don't think you're too stocky," Ami blinked. Makoto turned around and stared at her. Ami was so lucky...although she had short hair, she still was so gentle and calming, no one would think she didn't look like a girl. Suddenly self-conscious, she pulled down her long sleeve to cover up her calloused hands and began to wish she had smooth, white skin like Ami's. "You look very much like a woman to me, at least, I see you as one," Ami smiled quietly, looking up at her.

Makoto blinked and stared at Ami's bright, blue eyes. "I...oh, um, thank you."

"No problem."

Rei looked away, propping her head up with her hand. Makoto almost wanted to apologize. "I guess I look like I'm strong, but really, I miss my mother sometimes," Makoto admitted. "Every time I hear a plane fly above my apartment, it scares me a little and I have trouble going back to sleep, so I go into the kitchen and try to bake something."

Ami blinked. "You mean-oh my goodness, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"It's not your fault!" Rei turned around, then regretting her forcefulness, added softly ''We can't change the fact they're gone, so we have to move forward, but we still can't help looking back sometimes."

"That's right," Makoto echoed, going back to staring at her teacup.

"That's why," Rei smiled ruefully. Ami still looked worried, so she took her hand in hers. "Makoto, can you ask Mrs. Tsukino to bring us some more tea?"

"I'll do that," Makoto stood up immediately, latching onto the opportunity to be of use. "Oh! Should I tell her that Usagi and Mina are taking a nap now and we're on break? Maybe she can-"

"It'll be fine," Rei waved her hand dismissively, "Just tell her we need another teapot and that Ami will have solved everything in a matter of seconds anyway. Right?"

"Oh, um, of course," Ami laughed tentatively.

Makoto smiled. "Alright then! Well, another teapot of matcha, then," she declared, rolling up her sleeves.

"Ugh! No, none of that stuff, get us something less bland instead," Rei snapped.

"Oh...do you not like green tea, Rei-chan?" Ami asked slowly.

"Hmph-well, if there's one thing I can't stand, it's yellow mackerel. But I guess it'll be alright if it's not black tea...maybe..."

Makoto laughed and grabbed the tray full of empty teacups, taking it with her.

* * *

Quietly, Makoto sat down on the bench and stared up at the falling cherry blossoms.

 _"Mako-chan, did you know, if you catch one of the petals-your wish will come true?"_

 _"Really? My wish will come true? Even if it's something really big?"_

 _"Of course it will, Makocchi_."

A petal fluttered down and landed nearly her foot. Gazing blearily at it, she kicked it and missed it. Of course, it was something flat. But her foot still stirred up a slight breeze that still pushed the petal away.

" _Senpai..."_

 _"What is it, Mako-kun?"_

 _"I wanted...to tell you something.._."

"Hmph," Makoto shook her head, and her ponytail full of hair flew so fast it whipped her face. Sighing, she leaned back and exhaled out of frustration.

 _"What is it?"_

Now that she was leaning onto her back, she stared back up at the world above her and let her arms hang out too. Every few minutes, a soft breeze would blow and send pink petals fluttering down towards her, reminding her of snow. Groaning, she sat back up and propped her head up on her arm, tapping her foot restlessly.

 _"I-I heard that if you confess under the sakura trees, then your loved one will...will..."_

 _"Will what?"_

Mako stood up, shoving her hands into the secret pockets of her skirt and kicking at the pile of decaying petals that had formed a bleached out, rust-colored mass. A few people turned around and stared at her, but she ignored them and strode around, trying to think of someplace to go. _I wonder if anyone's at the Crown karaoke room,_ she thought to herself. _Maybe it's just Ami, trying out our new computer. Or maybe Minako is in there, practicing another one of her idol routines. And Usagi is napping in a corner, or eating more than one row of dangos at once, and Rei is rolling her eyes or trying to remind them we have homework due tomorrow_.

Makoto shook her head. _I know I'm not going to finish that assignment,_ she thought, kicking the dirt again. She was, after all, rather like a dumb boy. She wasn't born a genius like Ami, nor as willing to finish everything even at the last minute like Minako, nor able to shamelessly make others do it for her like Usagi, nor as passionate and well-cultivated as Rei. She was the sort who just sat there and stared at the problem she didn't understand, then stood up and walked away, used to the teachers' disappointment. That's what she was...a delinquent. Both in the sense that she never was meant to be in the top hundred, and that she was always going to get into trouble. Makoto groaned and rubbed her eyes, trying not to think about the teacher's face the next day, and Ami's disappointed shock.

 _I'm Jupiter_ , she sighed to herself as she looked ahead. _I'm alone. I was meant to be this way...my past life was always like that. And so is the one I'm meant to live now_. Jupiter didn't ask for help, Jupiter was supposed to be strong and self-sufficient. She was like this now because, well, she didn't know any other way.

"That's not true, Mako-chan! I care about you," Usagi's face surfaced in her mind, pouting. "No one makes a Rainforest cake like you, Mako-chan!" Makoto almost felt the urge to correct her imaginary Usagi and tell her it was called _Black_ Forest cake, but decided not to make a show of talking to herself.

"Yeah! Don't forget about us, otherwise you'll become even more of a dummy than Usagi is!" Rei growled, even grumpier than in real life.

"Mako-chan! You can't give up, you still have time to work on it! You can do it if you really apply yourself to it, you can do anything!" Minako exclaimed, waving her arms frantically. Makoto smiled, and Ami too appeared.

"Makoto, I don't know if it's something I can help with, but...if you want to, you can always come to me for help with anything! I-I mean I'm not as good at cooking as you, and I don't know what it's like to lose someone s-so close to you...I mean, I can't even imagine how I'd be without my mother...but I'll do anything I can to help out! I, I was able to solve that math problem from earlier at least!"

Makoto laughed heartily. "Aw, you're so sweet. It's fine, really..."

"Oh, really?"

Makoto froze. This Ami wasn't a figment of her imagination. It was the flesh-and-blood Ami Mizuno, standing in front of her and looking up expectantly. Makoto yelped and jumped back a few yards.

"Are you alright? I called Rei and asked her if she'd seen you, and she said no, and you weren't at the arcade, so I asked Usagi where you might be...and she suggested this park...are you really alright? Did I bother you? I was, just worried if you were...okay..."

Ami stopped talking as Makoto took a step closer, bent over and then pulled her into a tight hug.

"Ami..." Makoto mumbled.

"Y-yes?"

"You are so small and cute, and yet you're so smart too. How do you do it?"

"E-eh?"

Makoto let go and rubbed her eyes, yawning. "I mean, like, if it were me...I'd probably only be able to pull off one at a time, and even then, probably not as well...did you get it from your mother? Or are you just, born special?"

Ami turned pink. "W-well, I guess I did get some of my...study habits from my mother. She was a very brilliant woman, and she is always working so very hard...so I don't see her very much anymore...but still, I admire her a lot for what she did for me. Especially when I was younger, when my father left us."

"Oh...your father left you?"

"Yes," Ami nodded, looking down at the ground. "I don't know why, and I still wish they'd told me more about it at the time...but, he was always like that, his interests wandered around a lot. I figured eventually, he'd also forget about my mother and I, just like he gave up eventually on all of his other hobbies..."

For a second, her eyes glistened and a crystal in her right eye threatened to run across her cheek.

"It was hard," Ami swallowed and blinked. "Especially since back then, my mother and I were not well off. But," she narrowed her eyes, "she didn't give up. She wanted so badly to live out her dream. She had been trying so hard to keep my father, even though he was always complaining that she might run after her dreams instead of staying with them, so once he left her she put everything into her work until we got to where we are today. And I am very grateful for that...I will never forget how much she sacrificed, just to be with me back then when she needed to be careful with her time most of all," she smiled.

Somehow, something warm had come out. Although Makoto still didn't know exactly what it was, she could still feel its heat somewhere. She smiled too.

"It is wonderful to have people who care about you, isn't it...?" Ami murmured softly, as a breeze blew through the trees and petals began to rain again.

Makoto smiled. "I guess, it is." She closed her eyes, and the feeling of Ami holding her hand, and Rei yelling, and Usagi crying, and Minako curling her fingers into fists all came rushing back. "No...it's the most wonderful feeling in the world. It's like, being granted a happy ending by God."

"Isn't it?" Ami mumbled.

" _Mama_... _Mama...Okaasan..._ "

Makoto shook her head.

"Let's go home, Ami," she smiled. "I bet the others are waiting for us."

"Home?" Ami raised an eyebrow. "You mean Crown?"

"But of course," Makoto laughed. "Or Usagi's house. Or the Hikawa shrine. Or wherever Minako lives. Wherever the rest of us are, that is what I call my home."

"You forgot to mention my house, or your apartment," Ami interjected.

"Oh, but of course, how did I? Well, you are always welcome to visit me whenever you like," Makoto smiled.

Ami turned pink and started to stammer. "Uh, uh...um...y-you really mean that?"

"But of course. You're my precious friend, aren't you?" Makoto flashed her a grin.

"I...uh..uh...ah..." Ami looked away and started coughing. "Ahem! It appears, I, eh, need to go-go to the bathroom! Excuse me!"

"Are you alright?" Makoto asked alarmed. "There's a public restroom right there, if you need-"

"Yes! Thank you! I'll be right back!" Ami gasped, clutching her stomach and making a dash for it. Makoto blinked and waited outside, leaning against the wall until Ami reappeared, panting and fanning herself.

"Did I say something weird?" Makoto asked, worried.

"Huh? Oh, no! No, no, no! That was just...haha, must have been something I ate," Ami stooped over and coughed loudly. "Ahem! Um, didn't you say we should go home now? Can-can I escort you?"

"Oh, but of course," Makoto replied. "Here," she offered Ami her right arm.

Ami stood in place, paralyzed.

"Oh! Sorry, it must be weird to you, haha, another girl offering an arm to you...sorry," Makoto quickly apologized, pulling back and scratching her neck while laughing nervously. "I just...don't know why, but...I suddenly do weird things and I kept forgetting myself. It's so rude of me, isn't it?"

Ami stared up at her then shook her head. "No, it's not weird, Makoto-chan. Please, I'd love to walk with you," she stopped and tried to offer her arm to Makoto the same way, although she was much shorter and therefore didn't look like a gangster picking a fight. "May I?"

Makoto stared at her offered arm and felt a bubbling rising up to her throat.

"Yes," she replied. "That would be nice," she smiled.

" _Mama! Mama!"_

 _"What is it, Makoto?"_

 _"I caught a whole bunch! See?"_

 _"Oh, my goodness! What an amazing little girl I have-how many have you got?"_

 _"Six!"_

 _"Six? My, how wonderful! Can you count them out for me, Makoto?"_

 _"No."_

 _"Oh...alright then, that's okay, I can count them for you. See? Here we have one..."_

 _"Mama, it's fine, I caught them already-"_

 _"Come on sweetie, count with me."_

 _"But I don't know how to-"_

 _"You can do it if you put your heart to it! Two, three, four, five..."_

 _"Six!"_

 _"Six, seven, eight, and nine! Nine petals!"_

 _"So, I have nine wishes?"_

 _"That's right. Or, maybe you could use them all for just one wish."_

 _"Then I wish nine times that Mama can stay with me, even when I grow up, and be with me forever."_

 _"Oh, Makoto...you darling..."_

 _"Please say you'll stay with me, Mama, and Papa too. I want both of you to see me when I'm big."_

 _"Of course we will. Mama will make you a beautiful white dress, when you get married, and then Papa can buy you a bouquet of pretty flowers..."_

Makoto looked down at their interlocked hands. How strange it felt...when was the last time she had ever been this close to someone else?

 _She's here, right now. Right here. I can feel her with me._

Ami looked up and blinked as Makoto smiled at her and quickly gave her hand a little squeeze.

 _"I heard...that if you confess to the one you love, your feelings will be the same...and your hearts will be one, forever..."_

 _"Is that so?"_

 _"Yes...when the sakura blossoms are in full bloom..._ "

Smirking, Makoto leaned in closer and muttered into Ami's ear, "Hey...do you want to see what's in my pocket?"

Ami blushed. "In your p-pocket? You have pockets in that skirt?"

"Yeah, stitched them in myself," Makoto grinned proudly. "Wanna see?"

"S-sure," Ami breathed.

With a flourish, Makoto pulled out a handful of crumpled petals. They all spilled out like confetti and fluttered down, covering the ground in even more pink fluff.

"I was a bit bored so I decided to try my luck," Makoto smirked, "but it turns out, the whole superstition about sakura trees being magic is just made up. I have my own magic, after all, I should've known."

Ami giggled and grinned. "I'm not surprised that you managed to accomplish something that many people consider an impossible challenge, not just once but enough times to disprove it."

"What can I say, I guess I'm just special," Makoto grinned. Ami laughed. "Well, you mean you've never done it before?"

"Oh, I might have tried to, but that's unimportant," Ami waved her hand.

"Seriously? What did you wish for? Tell me!"

"Ah, it's too boring, no one would care," Ami laughed. "Just something stuffy, like a new science book or something like that. I don't even remember what it was."

"What? No, come on, tell me! I want to know!" Makoto insisted.

"Sorry, I can't tell!" Ami grinned, zipping her lips.

"What-? Hey, come on, don't leave me hanging like that! What was it about? At least give me a hint?"

Giggling and laughing, the girls chased one another, ignoring the pink petals that they kicked up or that rained upon them, getting stuck in their hair, on their clothes, and in their eyes as the wind continued to blow, harder and harder. Makoto laughed, reaching down to grab handfuls of them and threw them at Ami, who giggled and tried to dodge them and tried to throw some right back at her.

" _You really think so?"_

 _"I'm sure, Mako. You will make a wonderful woman when you're all grown up._ "

Giggling, Makoto tripped on a hidden root and yelped, stumbling and falling over. Ami, giggling, spent a few seconds laughing at her until she grabbed her by the ankle and brought her down with her. As they laughed at each other, covered in petals and sitting in a pile of dead leaves left over from winter, Makoto felt a smile spread itself across her face without any effort or opposition.

 _I still can't wait to be a real woman_ , she smiled. _But I'm alright with growing up, for now...I'm not alone_.

* * *

 **Some fun facts.**

 **1\. Makoto's birthday is only four days after mine. I mean, we weren't born in the same year, but we both celebrate ours in December.**

 **2\. Amanda Miller, who is Makoto's voice actress in the Vizmedia re-dub (which, I am told, is an improvement from the original English) was a huge fan of Sailor Moon, so she auditioned for every part. But it turns out, she loves green, she was also really tall, and she also played hockey on a boys' team. Maybe she should have seen it coming?**

 **3\. Naoko Takeuchi, who created Sailor Moon, said that Ami would look like (then young) actress Noriko Sakai who released a song called "Aoi Usagi", which translates to "Blue Rabbit." If you know what Usagi's name means and Ami's theme color, you can understand what's ironic about this.**

 **4\. In the drama Mop Girl, which was not far apart from PGSM, Keiko Kitagawa's character claims to be "from Mars." Hm. Wonder why?**

 **5\. You probably already know that Naoko Takeuchi wanted Usagi's hair color to be silver, but was told that would make it look less interesting on concept art and left the silver for Princess Serenity. Well, apparently the odango hairstyle also has a cute story behind it- being worn as a good luck charm for Princess Naoko to difficult events! Hmm, like rescuing your kidnapped boyfriend, perhaps?**

 **6\. Speaking of boys, Naoko Takeuchi is also married to fellow mangaka, Yoshihiro Togashi (author of Hunter x Hunter and owner of the twitter handle, Haitus x Haitus). In Hunter x Hunter, the character Alluka (whose gender can be interpreted as being a trans girl) can be seen playing with Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask dolls during an episode. On Togashi-sensei's Twitter feet, you can also find tweets claiming to be written by Naoko Takeuchi who has taken over her husband's twitter and is announcing his death, but he could also be trolling us again.**


	3. Just Right

"Hey, have you guys seen Ami recently?" Makoto blurted, looking up from her hand of cards.

Usagi blinked and looked up, having spent five minutes squinting at her Queens and deciding she wanted to keep all of them. Rei, who had to promise that the cards would not ignite themselves, opened her mouth then turned towards Minako. Minako scrunched up her nose. "She said she wanted to stay at home, as far as I know."

"Oh." They had been trying to survive a barrage of exams and assignments, but now it was the weekend and time to rest and recover from all the stress. "She's not still studying, is she?" Makoto asked worriedly.

"No, no, I think she must have finished her Biology exams from earlier today," Minako yawned and stretched out.

"How do you know all this?" Rei asked. Usagi opened her mouth as if she wanted to ask the same thing, then shut it.

"Because I'm perfect," Minako grinned, and Rei rolled her eyes. "Hey! It's true! Also, I sent her an email when she didn't show up yesterday."

"Oh," Makoto looked down at her hands, guilt beginning to reemerge. She had gotten so wrapped up with making mont blancs for everyone, and a little disappointed when Ami hadn't shown up to receive her blueberry-flavored one. But she had tried her best to shrug it off and move on so as not to dampen everyone else's high spirits. "Maybe I should go visit her..."

"Yes, do that," Rei muttered, too engrossed in her hand. Minako instantly took advantage of the temporary silence and snatched Makoto's deck, cackling maniacally.

* * *

"C'est...la...vie," Makoto murmured softly to herself as she trudged outside, her hands in the pockets of a thick coat and a scarf wrapped thickly around her neck. "Anata wo ai~shitsu~zuketai..." She coughed, then continued walking. Although she had taken care to bundle herself up generously, the wind still stung and howled at her cheeks and her eyelids fluttered, weighed down by the biting cold.

Eventually she arrived at the apartment building where Ami lived with her mother and rang the doorbell. Nothing happened for a few seconds. Makoto blew on her fingers and stomped her feet in place, fidgeting awkwardly. She tried ringing it again and peeking through the windows, which were already covered in closed blinds.

"I should have called her," Makoto murmured to herself. But, truth be told, she didn't really have Ami's number. She barely could afford the rent on her own lonely apartment, let alone a monthly cell phone. She smiled fondly, thinking of Usagi's cell phone covered in bunny keitai. Maybe one of these days, she'd bite the bullet and pay for-

"Mako-chan?"

Makoto snapped back to reality, stiffening. Ami was standing in the doorway, wearing a soft periwinkle blue nightgown and thick house slippers that looked warm. Makoto stared at her slippers enviously.

"Oh - uh- did I wake you up?" Makoto blurted, immediately feeling guilty. The bill be damned, next time she'd _call_ instead of infringing on another poor girl's siesta-

"No, no," Ami replied, "I just dress like this around the house, that's all," she laughed, sounding a little embarrassed "Here, would you like to come in?"

"Oh...well, I just, ahm, wanted to check up on you since we haven't seen you in a while, and-" Ami coughed lightly. "Is your throat okay? Do you have a cold?"

"Hm, it's just a little cough," Ami smiled, though Makoto wasn't entirely assuaged. "Here, we have some house slippers you can wear inside...do come in, I made some tea..."

"I - I don't want to be a bother-"

"No, I insist, it's fine!"

"R-really?"

"Yes, really! Now please come in, before _you_ catch a cold!"

"Oh...um...alright, then...if it's fine with you..."

"It really is fine with me!" Ami shook her head and tutted. "Makoto, don't be shy, you are always welcome here."

"Oh, I'm being shy?" Makoto smirked.

"Yes, you are! Now come in, shy maiden!" Ami crossed her arms authoritatively, resembling a housekeeper in her baby blue bathrobe. "Otherwise I'll have to use force!"

Laughing, Makoto obliged and scraped off the bottom of her shoes, placed them in the entryway near Ami and Mrs. Mizuno's footwear, then unwrapped the house slippers from their plastic packaging. As she glanced up, slipping one of them onto her feet, her eyes were level with a mahogany table upon which a picture of Ami and Mrs. Mizuno and a bonsai plant stood.

"Do come with me into the kitchen," Ami spoke, "I made a little too much tea and I can't possibly drink it all by myself. Come on!"

Deciding it would be wise to obey her, Makoto followed along and watched Ami pick up a dainty porcelain cup with painted flowers on it and fill it with tea. Makoto slowly brought it to her lips, ready to discreetly blow on it in case it was too hot. However, the water was just warm enough- not luke warm, not scalding enough to sting her tongue, but just hot enough that it slightly tingled the insides of her mouth as she drank it.

"I always add a little honey, especially if I have a problem with my throat," Ami spoke, looking up as she poured herself more.

"Oh, do you? Uh, is your throat okay?" Makoto asked nervously, wondering how to turn it into a compliment.

Ami laughed. "It's fine. I just woke up today with a little hoarseness, that's all. It should be gone in a few hours."

"Um, I know this sounds weird, but...I really like the temperature you brew it at. It's just perfect. I don't know how you do that."

Ami giggled. "I guess it's just part of my ability to control water."

"That is so cool," Makoto blurted, trying to think of similar ways she could use her powers for more domestic purposes. None really came to mind, unless she happened to be the victim of a power outage or wanted to show others the phenomenon of static electricity. "I wish I could do something like that with my powers."

"Oh, well you're already so strong without using your powers, I don't think you really need them," Ami remarked, putting down her cup.

"Oh...yeah, haha, forgot about that..." Makoto looked down as she took another sip, trying to hide her reddening face.

"No, seriously." Ami smiled. "You are so brave and resilient. I can't believe you've gone so much and you still have so much courage and love for life - my mother is everything to me, and without her, I don't know what I'd do," she finished quietly, looking at the still-steaming teapot.

A few seconds passed and both of them watched the silky spool of steam waft away.

"Well...there is no doubt that you must be brave, too, since your mother is also a brave woman," Makoto smiled. "And you're so intelligent. I just never understand how anything works, but I have to power through it anyway to survive. It's not that I'm brave, I just can't think of anything else to do except for using brute force."

"Oh, please," Ami put her hands on her hips. "If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have been able to make it past that enemy the other day."

"You slaughtered him in cold blood not long afterwards!"

"Yes, but you're the one who reminded me I still have my other abilities," Ami concluded. "If it weren't for that mental nudge, I wouldn't have remembered how to optimize the trajectory of ordinary objects and temporarily distract it before hitting him with a full-on splash."

"Please. All I did was throw an apple at him," Makoto muttered, blushing and fidgeting with the empty cup in her hands.

"Yes, but in that instant, you reminded me that even without our powers, we still have the mindsets of warriors. And that was what helped me to realize I could also use my brains to figure out another way out of the situation," Ami smiled. "Would you like some more tea?"

"Oh...yes, please," Makoto murmured.

Ami smirked. "Very polite, aren't you?"

"Ah...haha, yeah, I guess I don't really look it, do I?"

"No, no, it's just...Rei-chan will just briskly reply "Yes, please" while sounding like a haughty ojou-san who will never look your way in a million years. Then Usagi will say "Yes! I want moooore!" very loudly and Minako will snatch the teapot out of your hands saying "Thank youuu~" quickly. But you speak just like a refined gentleman. Or gentlewoman."

Makoto blushed. "I...I never thought of it like that, but..."

Ami just laughed.

"So, uh, have you been alright? We haven't seen you in a few days, and...um..."

"Ah. Yeah, I haven't."

A moment of silence passed.

"Is it...that we're too..."

"No, no," Ami shook her head. "I like spending time with you guys. It's just..." she sighed, looking over her shoulder at the clock. Panicking a little inside, Makoto sent a quick glance at the curtained kitchen window and breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn't dark outside just yet, but she might not have enough time. "After several days of hanging out and studying for exams together, I think I need my own small vacation. Talking to people takes a lot of energy out of me, so I like my own quiet time."

"Oh. Okay," Makoto replied. "In that case...should I leave now? I'm probably bothering you, aren't I? I mean, if it's exhausting for you to-"

"No, no, not like that!" Ami spoke quickly. "What I mean is, hanging out with several people. I love Usagi-chan and Rei-chan and Mina-chan, and I love visiting Luna and Artemis, and Mamoru is always so courteous to cook dinner for us. But, after a while, I just need some time to recharge. And it's fine if I'm just hanging with one or two people, that's just enough for me to handle without feeling tired," she smiled. Makoto opened her mouth again. "No, really, it's _fine_ ," she insisted firmly. "I _like_ talking to you. I want you to stay here. It's fine."

"You want me to stay?"

"Mhm," Ami replied, blowing on her teacup, although Makoto knew the tea was already at a perfect temperature.

A few quiet seconds passed. Makoto shuffled awkwardly, unsure of what to say, but Ami appeared to be enjoying the simple silence of standing together in her kitchen and drinking tea together. And to be honest, Makoto found it a little pleasant too, just drinking the silence all in peacefully.

 _I mean, I get that she needs some time on her own, but she must get quite lonely around here if her mom isn't home by now_ , Makoto thought to herself. _Ah! Damn, what time is it?_

Panicking once more, Makoto glanced up at the clock and swiveled her head to check on the window.

"Something wrong?" Ami asked worriedly.

"No, no," Makoto replied, trying not to look in a rush. "It's just, ah, I might not be able to stay much longer...since it's growing darker outside."

"Oh." Ami glanced outside. "Yes, it is growing late, isn't it?" She sounded almost disappointed.

"I - I mean, I don't-"

"No, it's fine," Ami replied with a sigh. "You know, Makoto, you don't need to be so awkward. It's fine. I'm not going to get mad at you," she smiled reassuringly.

"You won't?"

"Of course not, you big idiot," Ami smiled. Makoto blinked.

"Wait, what did you call me? An idiot?"

Ami giggled. "I'm sorry, was that mean? Should I have mentioned your silliness instead?"

Makoto huffed and crossed her arms. "I thought you were my friend," she pouted.

Ami laughed a little nervously. "Aren't I?"

"Yeah, of course you are! What kind of weak insult like "idiot" are you trying to use, huh? We've spent so much time together and shared so many embarrassing memories, and that's the best you can come up with?"

Ami giggled. "I suppose I could try a _little_ harder. Maybe that's what my IQ score is really for," she teased. "You really want me to go all out?"

"Yeah, try your hardest," Makoto replied, "I don't hold back, do I?"

"Oh, you can't fool me, you absolute cinnamon roll," Ami laughed. "I'm going to have to ask you to leave now, Miss Idiot. Only those who know the secret code are allowed to stay past their bedtime."

"What? I need a secret code to _stay_ , not to enter or exit?"

"Such are the rules."

"Pfft. You really want to get rid of me that bad?" Makoto crossed her arms and pouted. For a second, Ami looked as if she might have wanted to respond with another retort, but caught herself and shook her head.

"Well, I'm afraid you have a curfew, missy, and it's getting dark outside. I'll see you in another few days," Ami replied firmly.

"A few days? Why not tomorrow?"

A few seconds passed. "Okay, you can come tomorrow, but promise not to bring the whole gang," Ami crossed her arms.

"Er...is it okay if I might have asked Usagi and Mina to come along?" Makoto paused, leaning against the doorway.

Ami sighed, bringing her hand to her forehead. "You know Rei is going to demand that they bring her along too. And Mamoru likes to check out my mom's study and read the books while we talk. And Usagi brings Luna wherever she goes. And I can't just leave Artemis sitting outside, all by himself."

"That is true..." Makoto murmured guiltily.

"Tsk, tsk, naughty Mako-chan," Ami crossed her arms. Makoto blinked and looked up, and Ami grinned playfully and shoved her out of the door.

"H-hey! At least let me put on my shoes!" Makoto called.

"Here you go! Keep the slippers!" Ami replied cheerfully.

"You wouldn't really make me change shoes outside, would you? In this cold?"

"Hmm, it depends, do you know the secret code?"

"Uhh...I'll bring you more tea?"

"I have enough, thanks! I'm actually trying to drink through our impressive collection at the moment."

"Oh...uh, would you like to come with me to the library this weekend and buy some books? I could use a new cookbook, and, uh, they just expanded their science section-"

Ami's eyes glittered. "I was gonna let you inside anyways, but that would be fun, if you really are going," she replied, opening the door a little wider.

"Yeah, we could totally go," Makoto replied, feeling a little hot even though she could still see her scarf lying on the kitchen table. "Could you, uh - grab that for me please? I'm...kind of still changing shoes."

"Oh, of course! Here you go."

"Thanks."

"No problem."

Makoto finally laced up her right shoe and tied a double knot, then sighed and stood up. Ami helped her into her coat, which had been hanging on a hook near the entryway as well.

"Uh-"

"Ah, let me get those for you," Ami spoke, helping her with the rest of the buttons. Makoto opened her mouth to protest that she didn't have to, but before she could, Ami bent down and picked up her scarf, then draped it around her neck and tied it so that it covered her mouth. Now that Makoto was rendered speechless, she finished the rest of the buttons and smiled proudly at her handiwork.

"All set!" Ami declared cheerily. Makoto giggled.

"Okay, thank you for the helping hand," Makoto smiled. "See you tomorrow, then?"

"See you!" Ami replied brightly. Makoto awkwardly took a few steps back and bumped into the door, making her giggle. "You really should open the door before you try to leave, you know."

"Ah, I'm Jupiter, I can do anything!" Makoto replied, swinging it open and walking right out. "Ja, ne!"

"Bye bye!" Ami waved, closing the door after her.

It was starting to grow darker. Makoto figured she would be home by the time it was too dark to see anything, but she did have her flashlight with her, and she could probably handle anyone if they bothered her - though it still wasn't easy to walk around alone in the dark. Still, as she brought her fingers up to her scarf, which had been tied neatly and differently from usual, she felt a smile make its way across her face. As she threw her head back, her mind continued to pour over the memory of tea, brewed just right. It kept her warm all the way back home.

* * *

 **1\. You probably already know, but Naoko Takeuchi got a degree in chemistry at a pharmacy university (so yeah, she knows her minerals well enough to name the henchmen after them) and worked as a miko at a shrine. If you want to, you can actually visit Hikawa Shrine that Rei works at, it's a real location.**

 **2\. IS there any difference between Usagi and Minako? Well...according to the Sailor V prequel manga, Mina never cries and she's much more competitive (especially with sports). However, both girls love food and hot guys, and crossdress at some point. You can also see cameos of other characters, including Usagi. Maybe Ami or Naru. It's been a while!**

 **3\. Speaking of cameos, there is a little girl playing with Sailor Moon merchandise dolls in PQ Angels, another of Takeuchi's mangas (sadly it was very short-lived).**

 **4\. Apparently, Makoto's original name was Mamoru Chino. Sound familiar? You can take that however you like, considering Makoto's boyishness or how Tuxdeo Mask is very in touch with his feminine side.**

 **5\. The actress who played Queen Beryl in PGSM divorced a man because their marriage was sexless. She did state that she believed it was a healtheir reason than, say, being forced to leave due to abusiveness or something worse. It may sound odd, but I think I agree. She also worked with transgender entertainer Ai Haruna.**

 **6\. This is less of a fun fact and more of a personal anecdote, but when the male cast of PGSM was interviewed about their experience working with Queen Beryl, many of them brought up how hard it was to focus in the dark cave with the fog machine and made a triangle shape with their fingers when describing Beryl's dramatic entrance. I had no idea what they were referring to until I pulled up a picture of Queen Beryl's costume, and sure enough, she still has that triangle-cutout positioned right on top of her bosom. Glad to see that translated over into live action, huh?**

 **7\. Takeuchi wrote the lyrics to Kirari Sailor Dream, the theme song of PGSM which I do not sing along to ever at all not even if you ask me to haha just kidding yeah I do.**

 **8\. When Keiko Kitagawa (who played Sailor Mars in PGSM) got married in 2016, the cast of PGSM reunited to sing the ending theme together, which she found herself joining in from memory.**


	4. For the Time Being

Makoto sat back and yawned quietly to herself.

"I'll never finish all this work on time..." she mumbled, lying over on her side. In the end, all she was...she sighed. Just a dumb delinquent girl.

The phone that Usagi made her get buzzed.

Makoto sat up quickly and rushed over to it.

 **AMI: How are you doing?**

Makoto breathed a sigh of relief and put down the phone, pacing around the room a few rounds because of her excitement. Finally, she picked it up and, somewhat embarrassed, began to type back her response.

 **MAKOTO: oh, um, okay i guess. just a little stressed...lol**

Makoto slapped herself in the forehead. It took her three whole minutes to write _that_ out? Geez. To her response, Ami responded fairly quickly in a matter of seconds.

 **AMI: So, does that mean you're still struggling with homework?**

Wow. Makoto took a deep breath and resolved to type a little faster. However, she just ended up making more mistakes and having to erase them, which took even longer.

 **M: uh, haha, yeah...im not very good at calculus, so, there's that.**

 **M: also, sry that im so slow...**

 **AMI: The Soldier of Lightning is slow at something? Color me surprised.**

She blushed slightly.

 **AMI: I'm sure it's just because you're new to this phone. Once you use it for a while, I'm sure you'll be writing back even faster than me.**

Did Ami plan on texting her regularly? That might be nice, Makoto thought.

 **M: if u say so...**

 **AMI: I'm positive.**

 **M: ur rly fast. is it because ur so good at computers? lol**

 **AMI: I guess so...I learned to type when I was six or seven, I think. I wanted to try out playing this new computer game and so I asked my mom to teach me how to work a computer.**

Makoto took a moment to blink and whistle out loud. It felt almost strange, seeing this side of Ami that was open and even a little confident in herself...even more so, easier to connect to through virtual messaging.

 **M: wow. that is so...cool. i tried to use the school library computer once, but i couldnt understand how it worked at all.**

 **AMI: Maybe that's because you have a different way of solving problems.**

What was that supposed to mean? She clutched the phone a little tighter.

 **AMI: If you want to, we could go to the library, and I could show you how the computers work.**

 **AMI: That is, if you want to.**

 **AMI: You don't have to, but I thought it might help with...you know, your studies.**

Makoto paused. Maybe it would actually.

 **M: ok**

 **M: sounds good.**

 **M: didnt i promise 2 take u anyway?**

 **AMI: Oh, yeah...haha. Now that you do mention it.**

 **AMI: But seriously, do you want to? I don't want to take away from your time if you're in the middle of something right now.**

How considerate of her.

 **M: lol, its ok. im not doing anything rn.**

 **AMI: Alright then.**

 **AMI: By the way...it's spelled "it's" with an apostrophe.**

Makoto laughed out loud.

 **M: ok, ill keep that in mind for future conversations.**

 **AMI: Future conversations?**

 **M: u said that i would eventually get better at typing and write back to you faster, right?**

 **AMI: Oh**

 **AMI: I suppose I did say that.**

 **AMI: So...see you in twenty?**

 **M: 10.**

 **M: i got a new bike actually.**

 **AMI: Oh, cool.**

 **AMI: A lightning-powered moped?**

 **M: haha, no, just a regular ol bike like every mailman and his mother in law rode in the olden days.**

 **AMI: Interesting.**

 **AMI: I've only ever heard that expression in America.**

 **M: ah**

 **M: wait, u have been 2 america?**

 **AMI: Yes...my parents used to take me on vacations there.**

 **M: oh.**

 **M: cool**

 **AMI: Mhm.**

 **AMI: So, see you in ten minutes? :)**

Makoto liked the smiley face. She decided to try and copy it.

 **M: ok, c u then :)**

With a shaky hand, she sent it. What would Ami think of her attempt? Would she just say nothing? Makoto chewed on a nail, even though she could hear her mother's voice in the back of her head telling her not to.

 **AMI: Cool. Can't wait! ;D**

Makoto felt blood rushing into her face.

Quickly, she scrambled about, searching for her scarf, cardigan and handbag, then hesitated...should she change?

 _You should have planned this out beforehand_ , a voice nagged.

Makoto groaned.

* * *

"Wow, you sure must have hustled to get here," Ami blinked as Makoto huffed and dismounted as quickly as she could. "Let's see...that must have been, wow ten minutes on the dot exactly."

"I try to be on time," Makoto huffed, "also it's good to stay in shape."

"Indeed," Ami nodded, looking impressed. "Ready?"

"Sure," Makoto replied, taking off her scarf and stuffing it into her bag. Hoo...It sure was toasty inside of the library...something unexpected, but pleasant.

Ami led her to one of the computers and motioned for her to sit down. When Makoto looked around, unsure of what to do, Ami took the seat next to it and commanded "Come on, sit down next to me." Makoto obeyed.

"So, first you're going to have to turn it on...you press this button, and wait for it to load. It can take a while sine these are old models."

"Okay..." Makoto gulped. "What do I do when it finishes its thing?"

"Then you enter the password. You are a guest user, so the password should be printed and posted on that wall over there," Ami replied, pointing. When the black screen finally subsided, Makoto carefully copied it down, gulping and looking up and down nervously and erasing more than she typed. Finally, with a sigh of relief she hit the enter key and waited while the computer loaded once more.

"I am so dumb, I don't even know how to copy down eight simple characters," Makoto blabbed.

"You are _not_ dumb. This is just your first time."

"If you say so..."

"I am sure. Oh, look, it's done loading. Go to web browser."

Makoto took a deep breath and maneuvered the mouse to the best of her ability.

"And now you go to the official website...then you enter your username and password again, only this time use your student ID and code."

"Oh...so that's how it works."

"Yup. Because your high school pays for access to certain online databases, that's how this system operates. Now, just search for whatever information you need."

"Oh...okay," Makoto replied.

"See?" Ami smiled. "It's easy. You're a lot better at it than you think."

Makoto just laughed nervously. Just then, a new window popped up and the computer made a strange sound.

"Oh...let me handle this, clicking Exit actually won't work on these," Ami spoke, gently putting her hand on the mouse. At first Makoto wondered if she was going to move her hand for her, then blushed and realized she was supposed to let go of the mouse so that Ami could control it.

"Ugh. It aways annoys me when it does that."

"Right," Makoto swallowed, trying not to breathe too loud or move too much. She awkwardly crossed and uncrossed her legs.

"So, what are you trying to look up?"

Makoto looked down at her feet. They were almost intertwined with Ami's - for a second, she almost jerked her legs away, then moved them back into place even more embarrassed. No need to make something normal out to be weird. She took another deep breath. "E-Euler's formula."

"Really?" Ami raised an eyebrow. "I don't think you need a scholarly resource to understand that, Makoto. Why didn't you just ask me?"

Makoto found it hard to open her mouth and produce any sound. "I - I don't know."

Ami was now staring at her, directly. Her blue eyes seemed so full of wit and intelligence, sapphires containing gigabytes of coded information and framed with long lashes. "What is it, Makoto?" she asked.

"I..."

"You can tell me," Ami said a little louder. For some reason, Makoto noticed that her lips looked rather pretty...maybe she had swiped some gloss onto them, or maybe a lighter lipstick...either way, maybe she might give that silly gloss a second chance...

Ami blinked and brought her face closer.

She should be thinking of a response, but honestly not a word came into her head. She could only stare at Ami's face, as the distance between them grew smaller and smaller...feeling slightly envious of Ami's clear, porcelain skin and girlish features.

"Mako," Ami spoke her name.

That woke her up.

"Y-yes?"

"If you have any homework problems, just come see me. You clearly have the brains to do whatever you want...it's just small obstacles along the way that make it seem too hard to you," Ami huffed. "Okay?"

Makoto took a deep breath. "Okay," she barely managed to reply.

Ami smiled. "Good. Would you like to come back to my house?"

"S-sure."

Ami had a really pretty grin when she was full-on pleased, Makoto thought. She would like to see this grin from ear to ear more often. She absolutely shone.

"It's almost as if you agreed to taking me on a second date," Ami laughed.

Makoto froze.

"Y-yeah," she laughed awkwardly, "l-like Usagi and Momoru..."

"Momoru?" Ami raised an eyebrow. "Wait, who?"

"Aa-aagh! I, I mean...Mamoru, I just jumbled my words up."

"Oh. Okay." Ami laughed. "Aw, imagine if we called Mamoru "Momo-chan." I can see Usagi doing that."

"Y-yeah..."

"For a second there I was concerned, but Usagi would never cheat on Mamoru. Especially not with someone who had such a similar name."

"Eh-yeah, yeah," Makoto laughed. Her right leg, the one that was closest to Ami's warmth, was _shaking_. She tried pressing her foot harder to the floor, but that only made it tremble harder. "W-was there anything you wanted to g-get while we're here?"

"Hm? Oh. Well, I did have my eye on the sci-fi section..I heard they brought in more American writers like Ray Bradbury and Ursula Le Guin."

"Well why don't we g-go and check 'em out?" Makoto stood up and, realizing Ami was still sitting, awkwardly offered her hand to her.

"Sure," Ami smiled, taking her hand lightly as if she were a princess being helped to her feet. Gulping, Makoto did her best to take firm steps all the way over to the sci-fi section...which she soon realized she did not know, in terms of its content or location. Ami only laughed and gently took her hand, leading her in the other direction.

 _My head is spinning,_ Makoto thought _. I don't believe any of this._

"So, have you ever read any sci-fi before?"

"W-well, I did see part of 2001: A Space Odyssey when I was younger..."

Ami looked over her shoulder at her for a few seconds.

"You look like you need Ruth Ozeki in your life," she pursed her lips. "Oh, and Haruki Murakami's not for everyone, but his work is certainly interesting. _Battle Royale's_...kind of intense, I'm not sure why it's in here. Mm, _Paprika_ has some cool ideas, too..."

"Oh...thank you," Makoto blinked, taking the books that Ami presented her. "What is this?" she lifted out the first book from the bottom because of how striking the cover was, even though _Paprika_ and Murakami also had interesting covers.

"It's _A Tale for the Time Being_ ," Ami replied. "It's a very sweet story."

"I'll take your word for it," Makoto replied.

"Mhm. Now if you'll excuse me, I haven't read _Fahrenheit 451_ in a while and I would like to check out _The Left Hand of Darkness_."

"Cool."

"I also think I'd like to check out the Fantasy section, since it also got some new imports...I have been requesting them to ship Diana Wynne Jones for _years_. Here, you can sit over there and open up one of the books I gave you and see if you like them."

 _She's in her natural element, alright,_ Makoto obediently sat down. _If Ami didn't have water powers, she'd surely have something associated with books, and her catchphrase would probably be "Read or die!"_

Silently, Makoto stared at the pile of books. All of them looked promising for a different reason, but for some reason she gravitated towards the Ozeki book.

 _Hi!_

 _My name is Nao, and I am a time being._

Makoto paused.

 _Do you know what a time being is? Well, if you give me a moment, I will tell you._

Slowly, her surroundings began to melt into one as she continued to work through each word and sentence.

 _You wonder about me. I wonder about you._

Makoto quietly smoothed the corner of one of the pages. It had peeled. Some woman who had been sitting across from her pulled out her chair, stood up and left.

 _Who are you and what are you doing?_

 _Are you a male or a female or somewhere in between?_

 _Is your girlfriend cooking you a yummy dinner, or are you eating cold Chinese noodles from a box?_

 _Actually, it doesn't matter very much, because by the time you read this, everything will be different._

 _And if you decide not to read on anymore, hey, no problem, because you're not the one I was waiting for anyway_.

Makoto glanced over her shoulder. Ami was happily reading through _Dogsbody_ , with _Howl's Moving Castle_ and its two sequels tucked under her arm, plus the first book of the Chrestomanci series. She would be fine.

 _But if you do decide to read on, then guess what? You're my kind of time being, and together we'll make magic!_

* * *

Makoto was finally brought back to reality when she finished the last page and felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around to find Ami smiling at her, holding a bag full of sci-fi and fantasy books.

"So, are you ready to go now?" Ami smiled.

"U-uh sure, right," Makoto repied, standing up quickly. "Where did I put-"

"It's fine, I went ahead and had the others loaned out in my name," Ami laughed, picking out the other novels from her bag. "Did you want to bring that one too? I also borrowed another copy of it - here you go," she handed it to Makoto.

Makoto blinked. "Thank you," she whispered. "I really enjoyed that book."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes. It was nice."

"I'm glad you did," Ami smiled. "Ready to go, now?"

"Yes."

With that, Makoto put back on her scarf and let Ami tie it for her. It was hard to hold her breath during those seven atrociously long and unbearably brief seconds, even more so when she could feel her heart pumping so loudly.

"Ami..."

"Mhm?"

"Would it be okay for me to visit you and...maybe do homework together?"

"Sure!" Ami grinned. "I'd love that."

"Okay...I'll try my best to read through the other books, but I really did enjoy the first, it was good."

"As long as you like them, that's good."

"Yup! Thank you so much for recommending them to me."

"You're welcome," Ami smiled. "Did you have a good time?"

"Yeah! I had a great time on this, uh, meeting. Or...would it be called a date?" Makoto babbled, shuffling her weight from side to side.

Ami looked up at her, and for a second she appeared as if she wanted to say something else.

"Call it what you want," she replied. "When are you coming over?"

"Tomorrow around...four in the afternoon? Does that work for you?"

"Perfect."

"Oh, okay..."

Silence.

"C-can I walk you back?"

"Oh. Sure," Ami's face had the hint of a smile that hovered over it ever so briefly.

Without thinking, Makoto stuck out her arm as if she were a gentleman asking a lady to the dance, but Ami accepted and took it silently. Without saying a word, Makoto took a deep breath and hoped it wasn't too obvious how nervous she was. With that, they started off towards Ami's house.

"You know, you could even stay over if you'd like to..." Ami spoke up suddenly. "We could get more work done."

"Oh...maybe if we stop off at the convenience store first," Makoto laughed nervously. "just...quickly grab a toothbrush and stuff."

"Really?"

"Y-yeah."

"What about your bike?"

"I'll go get it later. I locked it nice and tight."

"If you say so...I don't want to trouble you."

"What? You're the one who owns the house, if anything I'm troubling you!"

"Well, it's no trouble at all for me."

"Me neither!"

"If you say so," Ami smiled. "You know, Mako-chan, if I ever had to go on a date with someone I'd rather go with you."

She might choke.

"Oh u-h I'd say the same for you, Ami. Y-you're, uh, easy to get along with."

"Is that so?"

"Y-yeah...a-and you're a pretty girl, anyway, it wouldn't be hard to find boys impressed with you if you wanted to..."

"Really?" Ami suddenly squeezed her arm. She was not prepared for that, at all.

"Yeah..."

"Aw, thank you," Ami replied, "though most boys leave once they find out who I really am."

"You mean that you're a really c-cool and smart person? Their loss."

Ami smiled wistfully.

"How about we go to your apartment using the bike to collect your supplies, then head back to the house? You can park it at your apartment and you won't have to pay for an extra toothbrush."

"Wow, you really are a genius...I'd never have thought of that."

Ami laughed and hit her lightly on the arm. It didn't hurt, but it sent Makoto's stomach all over the place like a jar full of mad orange monarchs that someone had shaken and flipped upside down.

"It doesn't take a genius to come up with that, silly."

"Oh...I guess I wouldn't have, since I'm so dumb."

"You are not dumb! How many times do I have to say that?"

Makoto smiled. She selfishly wanted to hear Ami say it one more time. But this was fine, for the time being.

* * *

 **You're free to submit fun facts to be added in future chapters!**

 **Bless you beautiful people and keep all of you safe.**


	5. Bluebird Sky

Usagi frowned at the mirror, examining herself and peering in at her own face.

"Is something on your mind, Usagi-chan?" Makoto asked politely.

"Yes," Usagi replied, frowning and suddenly grabbing her chest. "Is this place already finished growing?"

A silence pervaded the entire room.

"Eh? Why is everyone being quiet now?" Minako blinked, looking around. Rei turned red and looked away.

"Well, uh," Makoto laughed awkwardly, "who knows? You're still going to grow up a lot, after all..."

"Yes, but is this really it?" Usagi frowned. "Am I going to spend the rest of my life like this? I thought, you know, someday the...ratio would even out!"

"Oh my god she knows what a ratio is?" Rei hissed.

"I-I don't see anything wrong with the way they are now!" Makoto laughed nervously. "Besides, big busts are...well, they can be a little bothersome sometimes."

"How would you know?" Usagi asked quizzically.

"I..." Makoto shut her mouth and started nervously rubbing her foot against her leg. "Well, you see, um..."

"Ahhh! I got it~!" Minako exclaimed suddenly and stood up excitedly. With everyone watching her, she strode confidently next to Makoto and opened her mouth. "Mako-chan has the biggest chest here, because she's the Mama Bear!"

Rei and Ami blinked curiously. Makoto covered her face in her hands out of sheer horror. Thanks a lot, Minako, she thought.

"Are you positive?" Usagi demanded, leaning in to examine. "Have you like, checked?"

"Mhm!" Minako replied enthusiastically to everyone's horror. "The goddess of love, Venus, has to ability to tell what anyone's three sizes are at a glance!"

"Oh, do tell us more about these unknown Venus powers," Rei grumbled. "Last week you told us you knew exactly what our soulmates were like based on our sense of style, and then the week before that you told us Venus is naturally gifted with all the characteristics of an idol-"

"And the week before that, Venus could tell whether people were in love, and with who," Ami added.

"Let's uh, not talk about it too much," Makoto replied, feeling self conscious and a little scandalized. "Anyway, Usagi, you shouldn't worry about not having a big chest. It's only trouble really..."

"Is it harder to run with?" Usagi asked, suddenly concerned.

"Uh...well, th-there's stuff like certain sports bras that help, but sometimes it does...and uh, when I sleep, sometimes I get back pains or can't find the right position..."

Usagi looked as if she was now reconsidering her wish. "Hm, I guess if my chest hurt all the time, it would be harder to concentrate on beating up monsters...okay! That's it! I have a small chest and I'm happy!"

Everyone nodded, feeling awkward but going with it.

"Are you positive, though?" Rei piped up, looking at Minako.

"Ehhh?"

"Are you sure, you know, that you know everyone's sizes correctly?"

"Hmmm," Minako replied. "Well, Rei-chan's waist is-"

Rei flew out of her chair and tackled Minako, covering her mouth with both hands.

"Mf-! Rei-chan, you know I don't mind you jumping me, but there's a process to it, you know - you're supposed to buy me flowers and stuff, after all, they don't call me the Goddess of Love for nothing-"

"Be quiet! You know that's not why I did this!" Rei shrieked, sitting up immediately.

"Well, you're still welcome to tackle me, for whatever reasons you want to use," Minako replied, blowing her a kiss cheekily. "Although ~ are you sure you want me to be on the b-"

"Anyways," Makoto coughed awkwardly, "why don't we, um, ask Ami how to solve this problem? You know, I uh, always have had some trouble figuring out parabolic derivatives-"

"Oh? Is it because they have so many curves?" Minako asked, earning a scandalized Rei Hino TM slap.

"Well, they shouldn't be all that hard since they're a quadratic function," Ami replied. "But alright, I suppose I can help."

"Great," Makoto grinned, taking a deep breath.

"Wait...if you have big boobs, does that mean you have to wear a thicker bra?" Usagi asked worriedly. "Makoto, what kind of bra do you use? Does it have anything special in it?"

"Sp-special? Usagi, I don't think-"

"Like, some kind of padded armor or chain mail? If so, then do you ever get bruised by it?"

"I..." Makoto closed her mouth. "In a way, I suppose..."

"Wow," Usagi murmured. "That is so cool! I want a big bust again."

Makoto threw Ami a glance and she giggled. Makoto just sighed in exasperation and covered her face in her hands again.

* * *

"Well, that was unusual," Makoto groaned.

"I suppose poor Usagi doesn't quite have a grasp on larger chests, doesn't she?" Ami asked, in a good humor.

"Metaphorically, yes." Makoto replied. "You know what, I don't even think Minako knows our three sizes. She probably just said she did to annoy Rei."

Ami laughed. It came out in a pretty peal, like bells. "That does sound like her. I suppose Rei's very particular about her waist, though...she didn't seem terribly amused by it all."

"True. Well, I don't think Mina would actually have announced her waist measurement, she probably was just trying to tease her. Usually Mina knows not to go too far."

"Mhm."

Makoto looked up. It was one of those perfect blue sky days. For some reason, it reminded her of hot, hot, blistering heat and thirsting for a bottle of water. Her mom, holding her sweaty little hand in her larger, cooler one, and walking her to an old dusty corner store out in the middle of nowhere after driving around aimlessly for miles. The storeowner had barely glanced up from a wrinkled old newspaper covered in Kanji, and there was virtually no one else, just the two of them browsing the isles. Makoto had looked up at all of the dusty ramune bottles and asked for some Calpis, only to hear it wasn't in stock. She'd settled for the closest thing, a can of some similar-named soda, even though Makoto was too young for soda.

Makoto took a deep breath. Yes, she could almost touch the memory already. The way her feet squeaked on the well-scuffed floors, the smell, the huge vat of stinky Durians, the fans and washcloths, and the small box full of face masks and fancy erasers. She almost wanted to ask her mom to buy her an eraser but she was already tugging her towards the cashier.

And then the soda. Makoto winced. The Milkis tasted nothing like what she expected - she'd spluttered, unsure of what to do with all the carbonation and froth, and spent a few minutes choking before she could take a second gulp. The burps afterwards that shook her little tummy only made it more alarming.

But it was a beautiful day, still. Nothing but endless, endless blue. The same color as Ami's pretty eyes.

"Isn't it a little hot?" Makoto asked awkwardly, fanning herself with her hand.

"I guess...well, I'm cool-blooded by nature, so I wouldn't know," Ami replied, almost looking ss if she were cracking an in-joke.

"Of course you are. You can douse yourself in cold water any time you want, but I have to put up with this searing, terrible heat," Makoto pouted. Ami laughed.

"Well, if it bothers you that much, why don't we go get some popsicles from the corner store?" She asked.

Makoto looked at her for a moment. "That sounds nice," she admitted. "Why not? Let's go!"

Makoto resisted the temptation to look at the Rikkakuma merchandise and went straight towards the coolers. Ami gazed briefly at a magazine cover featuring Rika Izumi.

"What flavor would you like?" Makoto blurted.

"Hm...anything is fine."

"Alright then, red bean it is," Makoto grinned.

"What? No! I take it back, grab a melon one, please!"

"Oh come on. Everyone who says they don't like red bean is secretly depriving themselves of one of the best things in the world."

"You're horrible," Ami replied, "I'll take lychee. Don't you dare!"

Makoto just laughed and got herself a red bean popsicle and they walked to the register together.

"You really enjoy that flavor?" Ami asked, incredulously.

"Of course I do," Makoto replied. "It's my favorite!"

Ami made a face. "Alright, whatever you're into," she replied. Makoto laughed.

"How can you not like it? It's just like carrot cake!"

"I love carrot cake, but I will never be able to stomach adzuki, thanks."

The cashier glared at them and mumbled the price.

"Oh - I'll pay for it," Ami offered.

"No - no, I can pay for my own!"

"Oh come on. This was my idea. Consider it a gift," Ami replied. "I don't mind - just rely on me for this one smaaall thing, okay?"

Makoto made the mistaking of staring at those blue eyes and caved.

"Okay," she replied, and Ami grinned.

As they left the store, Makoto peeled off the wrapping on her popsicle and muttered "Thank you, you know you didn't have to, right?"

"Well, it wasn't a problem at all," Ami replied. "Besides...you're on a budget, right?" She asked cautiously.

Makoto swallowed. "Yeah." She stared at the popsicle - it had a little crust of ice on the edge. "Thanks for um, being really considerate of that."

"No problem, really," Ami replied. "So...are you a crazy red bean lover?"

Makoto grinned. "You bet!" She replied. "I looove adzuki anything - red bean soup, red bean filled daifuku mochi, red bean ice cream - I'll eat virtually anything if you put some on top of it!"

"Hmmm...even red bean ramune?" Ami asked doubtfully.

"Well, I don't really drink a lot of ramune, to be honest," Makoto replied. "It's expensive to pay for just one bottle with a fancy marble inside."

"Of? You don't extract and collect your ramune marbles?"

"I - do you?" Makoto asked, curiously.

Ami laughed. Makoto was starting to imagine her, wearing a mad scientist lab coat and creating some fancy contraption. "Maybe I do, maybe I don't," she replied. "You'd have to visit my house to see, though."

"Oh, really?" Makoto asked.

Having opened their wrappers, they then began to enjoy their treats. Makoto sat down on a bench and Ami sat down next to her, not once letting her attention drift from the popsicle in her hand. Makoto relaxed and uncrossed her legs, taking a larger bite of her popsicle. Ami watched her curiously and tried nibbling off a small corner with her teeth, then winced and decided against it. Makoto giggled and she lightly shoved her.

"I simply do not believe that people who can just bite into a frozen chunk like that are human," Ami declared. "Are you from somewhere beyond here, hmm? Maybe like, space?"

"I dunno, maybe. But you know what they say - it takes one to know one," Makoto attempted a friendly smirk. Ami just laughed and shoved her again.

"So, what other weird bean stuff do you like? Are you a crazy fan of natto?"

Makoto wrinkled her nose. "I'll eat it, sure, but I'm not huge on it."

"You don't like natto?" Ami asked, surprised. Makoto shrugged.

"I will eat anything except for maybe potatoes," she replied.

"Potatoes!" Ami looked incredulous. "Why potatoes?"

"Well, they're so bland and chunky and I hate peeling them," Makoto replied. "Also I had to eat a lot of them when I was still figuring out my budget and I am so sick of potato soup, mashed potatoes, potato gratin, baked potatoes every day in and out. I almost got sick after watching Usagi and Minako eat a whole crate full of them."

"Well, that's interesting," Ami blinked. "Personally I don't know why but I can't stand yellowtail fish. If I see it in my soup or on sushi, I just can't eat it."

"Fish is nutritious. I always look forward to when the mackerel goes on sale," Makoto replied. "As long as it's not staring at me with red, dead fish eyes, I'll cook it. What is your favorite food, then?"

"Sandwiches," Ami replied. "They're practical."

Of course. How very like her.

"And you?" Ami asked.

"Cherry pie," Makoto blushed.

"Oh, really?" Ami smirked. "Maybe we should buy you one for your birthday." Makoto looked down at her popsicle and slurped off the last chunks of flavored ice.

"Hey, mine says I'm a winner," Makoto blinked dumbfoundedly.

"Really? Show me!" Ami looked down at it. "So it does!"

"What does your say?" Makoto asked excitedly.

"Goodness. Apparently I'm a winner too. Good thing you didn't buy me a melon one, I suppose," Ami replied.

"I've never gotten a winner one before," Makoto blinked.

"Really?"

"Never. Today must be really lucky."

Ami grabbed her arm. "Well then, let's go get another one?"

"Sure," Makoto replied, feeling her cheeks go warm even though she'd just finished eating something cold.

"Oh look, it's Haruka and Michiru," Ami blinked and waved. "And look! Minako too."

Minako was laughing, one arm behind her head, and was probably hitting on both girls at the same time.

"Hey, what's up?" Haruka asked roguishly, trying to sound like a cool older senpai.

"Nothing, we just thought we'd buy some popsicles," Ami replied coolly.

Haruka smirked and mouthed something and Michiru rolled her eyes, but still continued to hold her girlfriend's hand tightly.

"Oh, really? Have you two been together all this time?" Minako blinked.

"Yes, we were walking back and suddenly decided we could go for something nice and cold," Ami replied. "Well, at least Makoto. She said she was feeling rather...hot. Imagine that!"

Makoto blushed as Haruka and Michiru laughed. Michiru remarked on the sweltering weather, something about the beach. Haruka said something about her car. Minako, however, smirked at her and leaned in.

"You know," she whispered into Makoto's ear, "one of Venus' greatest powers is being able to tell whether two girls have the same kind of relationship as Haruka-san and Michiru-san right here."

Makoto turned bright red. She then seized a surprised Ami's arm tightly and ran back into the convenience store, with Minako laughing evilly while Haruka and Michiru sent her a knowing look.

* * *

 **Fun facts:**

 **1\. Rika Izumi played Ami in PGSM.**

 **2\. I got the info regarding the girls' preferences on yellowtail, sandwiches, cherry pie, and potatoes from the wikia.**

 **3\. I love potatoes, but I hate red bean with an undying passion. Sorry, Makoto. I just figured it'd be funny for her to enjoy this weird flavor nobody else can stand. Come to think of it, I can see the girl cracking open a Durian and wolfing it down without crying under the right circumstances.**

 **4\. As of now it has not been confirmed that being the Goddess of Love means you are automatically equipped with perfect gaydar, but hopefully it will be someday.**

 **5\. You probably already know, but in Japan, some popsicle sticks are winner ones, meaning you get another free one.**

 **May everyone have a good day and stay safe!**


End file.
